Written Answers Friday 24 June 2005

Scottish Executive

Accounts Commission

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit of the Accounts Commission is and how much financial support it received in 2004-05.

Mr Tom McCabe: The remit of the Accounts Commission is set out in the commission’s April 2005 strategy document on its website at: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/publications/pdf/2005/05cp02ac.rtf.

  The statutory functions of the commission have been amended and adjusted over time and are now:

  to secure the audit of all accounts of local authorities and associated bodies, either by employed staff of Audit Scotland or by firms of accountants

  to secure the audit of the performance by local authorities of t24/06/2005heir Best Value and Community Planning duties

  to undertake or promote Best Value studies in local government

  to give directions to local authorities on performance information

  to consider reports made by the Controller of Audit, to investigate all matters raised and to conduct hearings where appropriate

  to make recommendations to the Scottish Executive and to local authorities, and to impose sanctions on individual officers and members responsible for illegality

  to advise the Scottish Executive on local authority accounting matters.

  The commission receives no financial support from the Scottish Executive.

Cancer

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether targets for urgent referral for treatment for cancer patients are being met across Scotland.

Mr Andy Kerr: Meeting the December 2005 cancer waiting times target is a big challenge for the NHS. We have set a stretching target and recognise it will be difficult to meet.

  A National Delivery Plan agreed with NHS boards will be published soon. This sets out additional actions that will be taken, aimed at achieving the 2005 waiting times target by the end of the year.

  New waiting times standards for diagnostic tests announced on 21 June will also help drive down waiting times for cancer treatment.

Crime

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to police forces to break down their annual statistics on general violent crime into more detailed categories, for example number of incidents or crimes involving a knife.

Cathy Jamieson: The scale of knife attacks in Glasgow is monitored by the Violence Reduction Unit in Strathclyde Police, which is adopting a multi-agency approach to tackling knife crime in the Glasgow area. Additionally, the homicide statistics collected centrally distinguish homicides committed with a sharp instrument and the statistics collected centrally on crimes of handling an offensive weapon show the scale of knife carrying identified by the police.

Disclosure Scotland

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans Disclosure Scotland has to upgrade its database to enable the information provided on enhanced disclosure certificates to be processed under applicants’ names, as well as those of relevant organisations.

Cathy Jamieson: Disclosure certificates are already processed this way. The Police Act 1997 requires that applications for disclosures are made and processed in the applicant’s name. The information that appears on the certificate is about the applicant or it is stated on the certificate that no record is held in the applicant’s name. When Disclosure Scotland issue an enhanced disclosure both the applicant and the registered body receive a copy of the certificate. Each party is made aware of the fact that the other has been sent a copy.

Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been set aside for the training of parents to aid their understanding of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 prior to its implementation.

Euan Robson: The total funding set aside for the implementation of the act is £12 million in 2004-05 and £14 million in 2005-06. Funding has not been allocated specifically for the training of parents since they have been included in consultation and raising awareness seminars with practitioners since 2004. Local authorities have been using their allocation of funding (£8 million in 2004-05 and £9.5 million in 2005-06) to inform parents about the act and to update their information and advice materials for parents. In addition, the Executive has used its funding (£1 million in 2004-05 and £1.5 million in 2005-06) to publish and disseminate leaflets to parents and to publish newsletters.

General Practitioners

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4620 by Susan Deacon on 7 March 2000, what the average number of patients per general practitioner is in (a) urban areas, (b) rural areas and (c) island communities.

Mr Andy Kerr: Average Number of Patients per General Practitioner1 in Scotland by Type of Area: as at 1 October 2004

  

 
 Average Number of Patients per GP1 by:


 Headcount
 WTE2


 Urban Areas3
 1,449
 1,556


 Rural Areas3
 1,094
 1,190


 Island Communities4
 775
 866



  Source: General Medical Practitioner Database: ISD Scotland.

  General Register Office for Scotland.

  Notes:

  1. Vacated posts for GP Performers (formally Principals) and the patients attached to these posts have been included in the calculations.

  2. Whole-time equivalent.

  3. Excluding "Island Communities". Data for "Urban Areas" and "Rural Areas" are based upon urban/rural indicators, at postcode level, derived from the 2001 Census compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland.

  4. Data for "Island Communities" are based upon "Island" indicators in both rural and urban areas at postcode level, derived from the 2001 Census compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland.

  In order for a comparison to be made between 2004 and 1998 data, we are able to update information previously supplied in question S1W-4620 answered on 7 March 2000. This is due to more robust rural/urban information being available, using data derived from the General Register for Scotland 2001 Census. Using the more robust definitions the comparable figures for 1998 would have been:

  Average Number of Patients Per General Practitioner in Scotland by Type of Area: as at 1 October 1998

  

 
 Average Number of Patients Per GP1 by:


 Headcount
 WTE2


 Urban Areas3
 1,510
 1,590


 Rural Areas3
 1,139
 1,198


 Island Communities4
 871
 919



  Source: General Medical Practitioner Database: ISD Scotland.

  General Register Office for Scotland.

  Notes:

  1. Vacated posts for GP Principals and the patients attached to these posts have been included in the calculations.

  2. Whole-time equivalent.

  3. Excluding "Island Communities. Data for "Urban Areas" and "Rural Areas" are based upon urban/rural indicators, at postcode level, derived from the 2001 Census compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland.

  4. Data for "Island Communities" are based upon "Island" indicators in both rural and urban areas at postcode level, derived from the 2001 Census compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new cases of HIV/AIDS as a result of blood transfusions have been reported in each of the last three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: During the period 1 January 2002 to 31 March 2005, there were five new reports of individuals who were infected with HIV and whose only risk factor was the receipt of a blood transfusion.

  Three of these reports were received in 2002. One individual received a transfusion in Africa, one in South America and the other was reported as receiving a neonate in Tayside in 1984. Two reports were received in 2003. One individual received a transfusion in Zimbabwe and the other in England in 1984.

  Blood donor testing for HIV became available worldwide in 1985.

  Source of information: Health Protection Scotland.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people suffer from Crohn’s disease, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: Estimated number of people with Crohn’s disease at the end of 2004 based on hospital admissions between 1981 and 2004

  

 NHS Board of Residence
 Estimated Number of Patients


 Argyll and Clyde
 1,257


 Ayrshire and Arran
 1,005


 Borders
 220


 Dumfries and Galloway
 352


 Fife
 1,377


 Forth Valley
 874


 Grampian
 1,845


 Greater Glasgow
 2,496


 Highland
 683


 Lanarkshire
 1,485


 Lothian
 2,043


 Orkney
 59


 Shetland
 81


 Tayside
 1,047


 Western Isles
 56


 Scotland
 14,880



  Source: SMR01 Linked database, ISD.

  Patients with Crohn’s disease could be treated in a variety of health care settings. Many will be treated in acute hospitals at some point.

  The table shows an estimate of the number of people with Crohn’s disease based on the number of people with an in-patient or day case episode for Crohn’s disease at some time in the period since 1981 who are still alive in 2005.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cause is of Crohn’s disease.

Mr Andy Kerr: The cause of Crohn’s disease is unknown, although it is common for more than one member of a family to suffer from the condition, and therefore there may be genetic factors involved.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17324 on 24 June 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to prevent Crohn’s disease.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Chief Scientist’s Office (CSO) is currently funding three research projects relating to Crohn’s disease at a total cost of £334,000. Two of the projects, namely, "Gene-environmental interactions in inflammatory bowel disease" and "An investigation of the genetic determinants of susceptibility of Crohn’s disease in the Scottish population" are being carried out at the University of Edinburgh. The third project, namely, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of small bowel in Crohn’s disease: evaluation of a novel orally administered hypersomolar bowel-distending agent" is being carried out at the University of Dundee.

  The CSO works closely with the Medical Research Council (MRC), the main agency through which the UK Government supports medical and clinical research. It is an independent body deciding what research to support on its own expert judgement. In 2003-04, the MRC spent £1.4 million on research relevant to Crohn’s disease. This included a recently completed project entitled "Microbiology of the gastrointestinal tract" carried out at the University of Dundee.

  Details of these projects can be found on the National Research Register (NRR), which is a database of on-going and recently completed publicly funded research projects. this can be accessed at www.nrr.nhs.uk/search.htm. The NRR shows that in Scotland, in addition to the projects already mentioned, there are a further three projects researching Crohn’s disease taking place at the University of Edinburgh.

Housing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the basis is for its estimate of a housing need figure of 15,000 per annum, in light of Homes for Scotland’s calculation that the current level of building of 24,000 new homes per annum is insufficient to meet demand.

Malcolm Chisholm: The figure of 15,000 does not represent a Scottish Executive estimate for total housing supply requirements, and is not comparable with the house building figures quoted by Homes for Scotland.

  Fifteen thousand is a working estimate of the number of new homes per annum which over the period 2006-14 will require entirely new strategic water and sewerage infrastructure, taking account of growth trends. It does not, therefore, include new housing which will be serviced by existing capacity.

  The figure derives from Investing in Water Services 2006-2014: Scottish Water Assets, a report by the Quality and Standards (Q & S) 3 Board, which can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/environment/iwswp2swa.pdf.

  New strategic infrastructure was discussed as part of the Q & S 3 process with a range of stakeholders, including Homes for Scotland.

  We will keep the estimates used for strategic water capacity requirements under review and revise these in the light of further evidence.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were prosecuted for not having a television licence and how much was collected in fines for not having a licence in each year since 1997 (a) in total and (b) broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the tables. Convictions for the offence of not having a television licence cannot generally be identified separately from those for other Wireless Telegraphy Act offences, though they will form the great majority of the total.

  Number of Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Wireless Telegraphy Act Offences1, 1997-2003

  

 Police Force Area
 1997
 1998
 19992
 2000
 2001
 2002
 20033


 Central
 169
 61
 3
 179
 126
 59
 240


 Dumfries and Galloway
 57
 82
 39
 4
 20
 12
 4


 Fife
 99
 58
 3
 104
 63
 27
 99


 Grampian 
 475
 233
 93
 256
 171
 109
 167


 Lothian and Borders
 323
 231
 8
 123
 52
 68
 301


 Northern
 126
 67
 50
 100
 80
 70
 92


 Strathclyde
 1,331
 1,403
 605
 2,016
 1,393
 1,501
 2,957


 Tayside 
 401
 98
 78
 251
 108
 235
 194


 Scotland
 2,981
 1,403
 605
 2,016
 1,393
 1,501
 2,957



  Total Amount (£) of Fines Imposed on Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Wireless Telegraphy Act offences1,4, 1997-2003

  

 Police Force Area
 1997
 1998
 19992
 2000
 2001
 2002
 20033


 Central 
 7,290
 2,648
 130
 7,220
 4,090
 2,830
 13,890


 Dumfries and Galloway
 4,280
 5,700
 690
 300
 1,345
 475
 130


 Fife 
 6,552
 3,731
 110
 7,239
 3,825
 1,840
 3,935


 Grampian 
 29,016
 13,384
 5,112
 12,806
 7,970
 5,785
 8,210


 Lothian and Borders 
 17,060
 10,845
 620
 4,915
 1,784
 2,740
 10,720


 Northern 
 4,765
 3,595
 2,210
 4,948
 7,106
 2,555
 4,920


 Strathclyde 
 55,667
 27,346
 13,246
 41,011
 32,036
 41,151
 75,867


 Tayside 
 17,510
 4,450
 5,360
 13,747
 4,755
 8,820
 8,330


 Scotland
 142,140
 71,699
 27,478
 92,186
 62,911
 66,196
 126,002



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Based on incomplete data.

  3. Includes estimated data.

  4. The amounts of fines collected for these offences are not separately identifiable in the statistics held centrally.

Legal Services

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Court Service has been involved in any attempt to have the website of the organisation, Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers, closed down and, if so, what costs it has incurred.

Cathy Jamieson: The existence of this organisation’s website became known to the Scottish Court Service through a leaflet being distributed to members of the public. As the contents of the website appeared to include material that was potentially defamatory, officials felt it appropriate to draw this possibility to the attention of the site’s internet service provider.

  No demands were made of the internet service provider. The decision to terminate the service was made by the service provider.

  The cost incurred was approximately £50 of staff time.

Local Government Finance

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether efficiency savings being sought from local authority budgets will be based on the Aggregate External Finance (AEF) per head or on a fixed percentage of AEF received by each authority.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Efficient Government Plan identified savings from local government over the period 2005 to 2008. By 2007-08, these amount to £325 million.

  Within the total provided in the settlement for 2007-08, £168 million had already been deducted from the overall amount available for local government and further amounts of £4 million and £1.5 million from the overall police and fire budgets respectively for that year. The remaining resources within the settlement were allocated to individual local authorities through Aggregate External Finance (AEF) using the existing needs-based distribution formula.

  The balance of the efficiency savings (£151.5 million in 2007-08) are for councils themselves to identify and it will be for councils to decide how best they can work together to deliver these efficiencies, the bulk of which will then be available to them to reinvest in front line services.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15656 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 May 2001, how many police officers from ethnic minority communities there currently are in each police force and what the latest figures are for the recruitment, retention and promotion of such officers.

Cathy Jamieson: The latest available information is set out in the following table.

  2003-04

  

 Force
 Number of Visibly Ethnic Officers
 Number of Visibly Ethnic Recruits
 Wastage of Visibly Ethnic Officers
 Promotion of Visibly Ethnic Officers


 Central Scotland
 3
 1
 1
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 1
 0
 0


 Fife
 4
 1
 1
 0


 Grampian
 3
 0
 1
 0


 Lothian and Borders
 30
 0
 0
 0


 Northern
 2
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 58
 9
 3
 1


 Tayside
 5
 2
 2
 0


 Total
 106
 14
 8
 1



  Source: Annual Statistical Returns from forces to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs it incurred in respect of legal representation at the fatal accident inquiry into the death of James Barclay in HM Prison Kilmarnock in January 2002.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Prison Service did not incur costs directly. A member of the Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive represented the interests of Scottish ministers.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16219 by Cathy Jamieson on 5 May 2005, if data on mandatory drug test refusals was not collected prior to 2003-04, why it was available in annex 15 to HM Chief Inspector of Prison’s follow up inspection report of HM Prison Kilmarnock in March 2002.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  This data was collated by the Chief Inspector of Prisons for his reports and could not be verified. The data was never collated by the SPS in the manner suggested until 2003.

Prisoner Escorts

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-7558 and S2W-11075 by Cathy Jamieson on 20 May and 19 October 2004, what the actual cash value of the contract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the escort of prisoners was estimated to be at the time the answer to S2W-7558 was given (a) excluding and (b) including VAT in prices comparable to those shown in the public sector comparator.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The financial value over the lifetime of the contract was given in answer to  S2W-7558. This value is the estimated cash value based on a seven-year life following completion of the implementation phase, excluding VAT.

  The net present value of the public sector comparator was given in response to S2W-11075. This was the net present value, in accordance with Treasury guidance, based on a seven-year life following completion of the implementation phase exclusive of VAT.

  The response to S2W-16951, answered on 6 June 2005 correctly confirmed that VAT was not included in the financial value stated in response to S2W-7558. However, both the question and answer mistakenly referred to this value as a net present value rather than an estimated cash value.

  VAT is applicable at the standard rate, but is fully recoverable by the SPS.

  The SPS has no figure for the actual cash value as it will be determined by a number of variables over the contract period including the volume of activity undertaken by the contractor and price inflation.

Prisoner Escorts

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16511 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2005, whether its agreement with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd regarding the monthly performance summary of the contract for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services is available in writing and, if so, whether it will provide the full written terms of that agreement and why it did not provide this information in the answer to question S2W-16511.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The answer to the previous question gave information on what information could be released as agreed with Reliance. A full copy of the written agreement is as follows:

  Monthly Reliance Custodial Services (RCS) Performance Report – Headline Definitions

  Prisoner Movements

  Police Custody to Court

  The number of prisoner escorts from police custody to court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

  Prisons to Court

  The number of prisoner escorts from prisons to court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

  Hospital to Court

  The number of prisoner escorts from hospital to court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

  Court to Court

  The number of prisoner escorts from one court to another court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

  Other

  The number of other prisoner escorts which count toward calculation of volume bandings, including non-core escorts, for the calendar month. In this context, return journeys as described above do not count, nor do "walk ins" who are subsequently given a custodial disposal. Inter court transfers are reported separately.

  Performance

  On Time Delivery to Court

  The percentage of prisoners delivered to court on time, as defined by the contract.

  Prisoners Unlawfully at Large

  The number of performance measures that have been applied against RCS for each incident in that month for prisoners who have been released in error, or escaped or who are unlawfully at large.

  Financial

  Payment due to Service Provider

  The total amount, presented as a single figure, due to RCS based upon the Invoice and Credit note submitted by RCS for that month including any revision(s) to the credit note as a result of the monthly meeting between the Operations Director and the Monitor. The number of pending items (if any) following this meeting they will be highlighted on the Monthly Report.

  Scottish Prison Service, 6 August 2004.

Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to relocate the headquarters of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) and, if so, to what location.

Cathy Jamieson: We hope to establish a multi-agency law enforcement campus to bring together key agencies engaged in the fight against serious and organised crime. The SDEA would be part of this. A possible site has been identified near Gartcosh, but a final decision will be made when we have all the necessary information about Gartcosh and any other potential sites.

Sex Offenders

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the Sentencing Commission’s Report on Bail and Remand, with particular reference to sex offenders who offend against children.

Cathy Jamieson: The commission’s report is currently being considered. When it was published I stated that the Executive would respond formally in the summer. That remains our intention.

  We have already made provision to allow a court to impose electronic monitoring as a condition of bail in murder and rape cases. This is currently being piloted. This is a significant tightening of the previous law where bail could be granted for those convicted of murder or rape without any such additional safeguard.

Young Offenders

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders in each of the last five years have failed to attend court while on bail and, of these, what percentage were apprehended within (a) one day, (b) one week, (c) one month and (d) three months.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table. Information in respect of the time to apprehension is not contained within the statistics held centrally.

  Offences with a Charge Proved in Scottish Court for Failing to Appear for Trial Having Been Given Bail, 1999-2003

  

 Year
 Offences


 1999
 3,628


 2000
 3,922


 2001
 4,182


 2002
 3,729


 20031
 3,193



  Note: 1. Includes estimated data.

Correction

The reply to question S2W-15219, which was originally answered on 20 June 2005, has been corrected: see page 5385 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-05/wa0621.htm.

  The reply to question S2W-16260, which was originally answered on 11 May 2005, has been corrected: see page 5402 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-05/wa0623.htm.